III. TYPES OF CITIES
Each city, like every other object in nature, is, in a sense, unique. A scientific study of the city presupposes, however, that a study of a number of cities will reveal certain classes or types, the members of which have certain common characteristics which mark them off from other types. There are, obviously, many criteria, on the basis of any one of which cities might be classified and distinguished from each other. Certain fundamental types appear in the literature of the subject of which the sociologist may profitably take note.
1. One of the very first characteristics that we observe about a city is its age. The difference between European and American cities in this respect is so obvious as to be inescapable. The cities of Western Europe, when compared with some of those of the Orient, again show their relative youth. A detailed study of the city reveals this important conservative influence of the early experiences of a city. Streets, walls, names, and the tradition that has grown up through centuries of existence leave their indelible impress upon the city as we find it today. Experienced observers are able to distinguish cities belonging to one historical period from those of another by their appearance, just as they are able to differentiate between the cities of adjoining countries. These differences show themselves not only in a dominant type of architecture, but also in general atmosphere, the mode of life of the inhabitants, and the activities that find expression in the life of the people.
Fleure, Herbert John. “Some Types of Cities in Temperate Europe,” Geog. Rev., X, No. 6 (1920), 357–74.
Traces the historical influences on the character of cities. (II; III, 2, 3, 5, 6.)
——. Human Geography in Western Europe: A Study in Appreciation (London, 1919). (III.)
Fraser, E. “Our Foreign Cities,” Sat. Eve. Post, CXCVI (August 25, 1923), 14–15.
The background of its inhabitants gives the city its dominant atmosphere. (V, 3; VII, 2, 3.)
Gamble, Sidney D. Peking: A Social Study (New York, 1921).
A survey of an oriental city. Incidentally reveals a strange variety of the modern city. (II; III, 4, 6; IV, 3; V; VI; VII; VIII; IX, 3.)
Hanslik, Erwin. Biala: eine deutsche Stadt in Galizien (Wien: Teschen und Leipzig, 1909).
The persistence of a historical type in a changing environment. (III, 6.)
Homburg, F. “Names of Cities,” Jour. Geog., XV (September, 1916), 17–23.
Rhodes, Harrison. American Towns and People (New York, 1920).
Uhde-Bernays, Herman. Rothenburg of der Tauber (Leipzig, 1922).
One of a series of volumes on “cities of culture.” The persistence of the historical influences on the atmosphere of cities. (III, 6.)
2. The means of communication that are in use at any given period in history determine the location of human settlements. For this reason the dominant location of the ancient and medieval city was on the seacoast or near a navigable body of water. The founding and the development of cities still depends on their location with reference to the means of communication in use and the consequent accessibility of the region. The coming of the railroads made large inland cities possible. Settlements located favorably along the seacoast or along an important river or lake enjoy a natural advantage which has an important bearing on their growth. Location is an important competitive element which produces fundamental types.
Faris, J. T. “The Heart of the Middle West,” Travel, XLII (December, 1923), 30–34.
Geddes, Patrick. “Cities, and the Soils They Grow From.” Survey Graphic (April, 1925), pp. 40–44.
A rather philosophical conception of the city as related to the natural environment. Suggestions concerning geotechnics, afforestation, and regional development. (III, 2, 3; V, 5.)
Jefferson, Mark. “Some Considerations on the Geographical Provinces of the United States,” Ann. of the Ass. of Amer. Geographers, VII (1917), 3–15.
Develops the theory that the country as a whole can be divided into provinces according to location on seacoast, inland lake, river, etc., and that the cities of each province are characterized by factors arising out of their location. (III, 3, 4; IV, 1, 6.)
Mercier, Marcel. La Civilisation Urbaine au Mzab: Étude de Sociologie Africaine (Alger, 1922).
The study of an African city in a desert region, whose immediate site is determined by water supply and transportation routes. The directions and the limitation of the social activities of the community are dictated by the environment. (III, 1, 6; IV, 1, 6; V, 1; VI; VII, 2; IX, 1.)
Ratzel, Friedrich. “Die geographische Lage der grossen Städte,” in volume “Die Grossstadt,” edited by Th. Petermann, Dresden, 1903.
A thoroughgoing consideration of the location types of cities by one of the earliest and most competent students of the subject. Offers the theory, also held by Cooley (C. H. Cooley, The Theory of Transportation) that cities arise at the end of a route of transportation, or at a juncture of several such routes, or at the point where one route of transportation joins another; where, for instance, a land transportation route ends and a waterway begins. Ratzel also gives one of the earliest and soundest geographical definitions of the city: “A permanent condensation (or dense settlement) of human beings and human habitations covering a considerable area and situated in the midst (or at the juncture) of several routes of transportation.” (I; II; III, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6; IV, 1; V, 5; VII, 2.)
Ridgley, Douglas C. “Geographic Principles in the Study of Cities,” Jour. of Geog., XXIV (February, 1925), 66–78.
A reiteration of Cooley’s theory: “Population and wealth tend to collect wherever there is a break in transportation.” (I, 1; VII, 1, 2.)
Wright, Henry C. The American City: An Outline of Its Development and Functions (Chicago, 1916).
Chapter i outlines the location of cities and classifies them according to their purpose. The rest of the book is taken up with government, finance, administrative problems, such as health, police, education, housing, zoning, and the effect of the city on the citizens. (III, 3, 4; V, 4, 5; VI; VII, 2; IX.)
3. A classification in use especially among the geographers is that arising from differences in site. It is important to distinguish between the general situation of a city, i.e., its location with reference to the surrounding territory and the means of communication with other centers of population and resources, and its immediate local setting which influences its structure and growth and brings with it certain other more deep-seated consequences.
Biermann, Charles. “Situation et Site de Lausanne,” Bull. Soc. Neuchateloise de Geog., XXV (1916), 122–49. Reviewed in Geog. Rev., VI (1918), 285.
Distinguishes between general location and immediate site as factors determining the character of the city. Emphasizes the limitations imposed on the modern city by its medieval defensive system. (III, 1, 2; VI, 3.)
Brunhes, Jean. Human Geography: An Attempt at a Positive Classification, Principles and Examples. Translated by T. C. LeCompte (Chicago and New York, 1920).
The most comprehensive and basic work in human geography at the present time available. Discusses the city as a form of occupation of the soil. Describes the principles and gives many illustrations of the effect of location on the growth and the character of cities. (I, 1; II, 2, 3; III; IV; VII, 1, 2.)
King, C. F. “Striking Characteristics of Certain Cities,” Jour. School Geog., IV (1900), 201–7, 301–8, 370–91. (III, 1, 2, 4, 6.)
Semple, Ellen C. “Some Geographical Causes Determining the Location of Cities,” Jour. School Geog., I (1897), 225–31.
Smith, Joseph Russell. Human Geography: Teachers’ Manual (Philadelphia and Chicago, 1922).
4. Cities may be classified according to the functions they characteristically perform in national or world economy. The competitive process tends to operate between cities as well as within cities, so as to give each city a rôle defining its status in the world-community. The capital city has certain features which distinguish it from a commercial and industrial city. The railroad city is fundamentally different from a resort city, from the religious Mecca, the university seat, and the international port. Even within these classes we find further specialization. Thus, we have a steel city, a film city, an automobile city, a rubber city, and a tool city. The ecological process on a national and world-wide scale is not sufficiently well known at the present time to permit of any definite system of classification, but that there is a strong tendency toward functional specialization between cities as entities is no longer open to doubt.
Cornish, Vaughan. The Great Capitals: An Historical Geography (London, 1922).
A study of the variations within the type of city serving as a political center. A work which has given a great deal of impetus to the study of functional types of cities. (III, 1.)
“F.O.B. Detroit,” Outlook, III (1915), 980–86.
A sample of the industrial type of city which is built around the production of a single product—the automobile. (IV, 6; IX, 1.)
Homburg, F. “Capital Cities,” Jour. Geog., XIX (January, 1920), 8–15.
Kellogg, Paul U. (editor). The Pittsburgh District (New York, 1914).
Introductory volume of the Pittsburgh Survey, one of the most comprehensive studies of an industrial, urban area. Contains material bearing on many phases of city structure and city life. (V; VI; VII; VIII; IX, 1, 3.).
Kenngott, George F. The Record of a City: A Social Survey of Lowell, Massachusetts (New York, 1912).
A cross-section of a typical manufacturing city. (V; VI; VII; VIII; IX, 1, 3.)
McLean, Francis H., Todd, Robert E., and Sanborn, Frank B. The Report of the Lawrence Survey (Lawrence, Massachusetts, 1917). (V; VI; VII; VIII; IX, 1, 3.)
“The Right of the Community to Exist,” Living Age, CIII (October 4, 1919), 46–48.
Roberts, Peter. Anthracite Coal Communities (New York, 1904).
A study of mining communities in the United States. (V; VI; VII; VIII; IX, 1, 3.)
Steele, Rufus. “In the Sun-Spot,” Sunset, XXXIV (1915), 690–99.
A study of Los Angeles, the city of moving pictures. (IV, 6; IX, 1.)
Semple, Ellen. “Some Geographical Causes Determining the Location of Cities,” Jour. School Geog., I (1897), 225–31.
——. Influences of Geographic Environment, on the Basis of Ratzel’s System of Anthropogeography (New York, 1911).
A comprehensive work dealing with the factors in the natural environment in relation to the settlement and the activity of man. (III, 2, 3.)
Tower, W. S. “Geography of American Cities,” Bull. Amer. Geog. Soc., XXXVII (1905), 577–88.
Distinguishes between industrial, commercial, political, and social centers and suggests that cities might combine several of these functions. Gives examples of each type, pointing out their distinctive characteristics. (III, 2, 3.)
Wood, Arthur Evans. Some Unsolved Problems of a University Town (Philadelphia, 1920.)
A study of housing, public health, and dependency in Princeton, New Jersey. (VI, 10; VII, 5.)
In the current periodical literature one can find numerous articles dealing with the various functional types of cities of the present day. The National Geographic Magazine has many numbers which are devoted to individual cities from this standpoint.
5. The town, the city, and the metropolis are genetically related concepts which represent three successive stages of an ever widening zone of interrelationships and influences. The town represents a local aggregation which is intimately bound up with a rather narrow surrounding rural periphery. It is the product of limited means of communication and constitutes a more or less self-sustaining economic unit. The city is a more highly specialized unit and, as a result, is a part of a wider interrelated area, while the metropolis tends to become a cosmopolitan unit based upon a relatively high degree of development of the means of communication. The differences between these three urban types is not only expressed in terms of number of inhabitants and area of occupation, but also in social organization and in attitudes. There is a tendency to divide the United States up into provinces according to the zone of influence of the greater metropolitan units dominating the surrounding territory and dependent upon it.
Cottrell, E. A. “Limited Town-Meetings in Massachusetts,” Nat. Mun. Rev., II (July, 1918), 433–34.
While dealing primarily with an administrative problem, points out one of the essential differences between town and city. (V, 3; VI, 7; IX, 3.)
Febvre, Lucien. A Geographical Introduction to History. Translated by E. G. Mountsford and T. H. Paxton (New York, 1925).
Contains a clear statement of the problems of human geography. Part III, chap. iii, on towns is suggestive. (I, 1; II; III.)
Gide, Charles. “L’habitation hors la ville,” Revue Economique Internationale (January, 1925), 141–57.
Gilbert, Bernard. Old England: A God’s-Eye-View of a Village (Boston, 1922).
A cross-section of village life and economy.
Gras, Norman S. B. “The Development of Metropolitan Economy in Europe and America,” Amer. Hist. Rev., XXVII (1921–22), 695–708.
Differentiates clearly between manorial, village, town, city, and metropolitan economy. (I, 4; II; III, 1; IV, 1, 2, 6; X, 1, 2.)
Lasker, B. “Unwalled Towns,” Survey, XLIII (March 6, 1920), 675–80.
Lohman, K. B. “Small Town Problems,” Amer. City, XXIII (July, 1920), 81.
Maine, Sir H. S. Village Communities in the East and West (7th ed.; London, 1913).
The most authoritative English study of the village. (II, 1, 2; III, 1; IV, 3; VI, 7; X, 2.)
McVey, Frank L. The Making of a Town (Chicago, 1913). (IV, 1, 2, 3; V, 4, 5; VI; VII, 1.)
Shine, Mary L. “Urban Land in the Middle Ages,” in volume, Urban Land Economics, Institute for Research in Land Economics (Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1922).
Shows the transition from town to city life. Contains valuable collection of material on the medieval city. (I, 2, 4; II, 2, 3; III; V, 4, 5; VI; VII, 2, 5; IX, 1; X, 1, 2.)
Sims, Newell Leroy. The Rural Community, Ancient and Modern (New York, 1920). (II, 1, 2; III, 1, 6; IV, 1; V, 3.)
Slosson, P. “Small-Townism,” Independent, CVI (July 9, 1921), 106–7. (X, 2, 3.)
Wilson, Warren H. Quaker Hill: A Sociological Study (New York, 1907).
A picture of a community held together by religious and social bonds. Shows the transition from a primary to a secondary type of contact. (V, 3; VII, 2; IX, 3.)
6. The city may be the unplanned product of the interaction of successive generations with the environment, or it may be the result of intentional activity with a specific end in view. We hear of ancient cities springing up at the will of an emperor bent on glorifying his name. There are cities in America that are the premeditated product of individuals or corporations bent on creating an adjunct to a factory. There are capital cities in America owing their existence to the decisions of a legislature. The planned city differs from the “natural” city not only in its structural form but in its functional aspects and its capacity for growth. Probably no planned city can grow into a metropolis if it does not somehow find for itself an important function in world-economy and earn its place in the competitive process.
Aurousseau, M. “Urban Geography: A Study of German Towns,” Geog. Rev., XI (October, 1921), 614–16.
A review of a German work (Geisler, Walter, “Beiträge zur Stadtgeographie.” Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde, Nos. 8–10 [Berlin, 1920], 274–96). Shows the influence of the old town plan on the development of the modern city. (II, 2, 3; III.)
Bodine, H. E. “Study of Local History Teaches Value of City-Planning,” American City, XXV (September, 1921), 241–45.
Cushing, C. P. “Rambler on the Standardized City,” Travel, XXIX (July, 1917), 40.
Ely, Richard T. “Pullman: A Social Study,” Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, LXX (December, 1884), 453–65.
While more of a general survey than a special study of the influence of the city plan upon the actual growth of the city, it does show some disharmonies arising out of the attempt to control a planned urban project in the face of growth and unexpected complications. (IV, 4; VII, 3; IX, 1.)
Ormiston, E. “Public Control of the Location of Towns,” Econ. Jour., XXVIII (December, 1918), 374–85.
Shows some of the abortive attempts to establish towns in unfavorably situated environments. Suggests public control as a possible preventive measure, if based on thorough study of all factors involved in the possibilities for growth and development. (III, 2, 3, 4; IV, 6.)
Whitbeck, R. H. “Selected Cities of the United States,” Jour. Geog., XXI (September, 1922), 205–42.
Contains several maps showing city structure.
The city-planning literature contains many instances of comparisons between planned cities and natural cities as well as examples of the effects of the city plan on the actual development of the city, and the opposite phenomenon—the effect of the natural development of the city on the city plan.